Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Nearly two thousand years after it was written, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life.

"Your ability to control your thoughts—treat it with respect. It’s all that protects your mind from false perceptions—false to your nature, and that of all rational beings."

A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, Marcus Aurelius’s
Meditations remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. With bite-size insights and advice on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others, Meditations has become required reading not only for statesmen and philosophers alike, but also for generations of readers who responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style.

In Gregory Hays’s translation—the first in nearly four decades—Marcus’s thoughts speak with a new immediacy. In fresh and unencumbered English, Hays vividly conveys the spareness and compression of the original Greek text. Never before have Marcus’s insights been so directly and powerfully presented.

With an Introduction that outlines Marcus’s life and career, the essentials of Stoic doctrine, the style and construction of the Meditations, and the work’s ongoing influence, this edition makes it possible to fully rediscover the thoughts of one of the most enlightened and intelligent leaders of any era.

Why I Picked It Up

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This year, I've been reading a lot about Stoicism—and digging into a lot of primary sources in philosophy.

The framework of Stoicism resonates with me, combining a lot of values of resilience and purpose that I embrace already with goals I have to understand the role of emotion, and how much or how little control we have over our circumstances. In November, I read How to Be a Stoic, which I enjoyed overall (although I had some critiques.) This past week, I went to BookEnds Kailua and stocked up on some titles I'd been eyeing for awhile.

While I'm still finishing some in-progress 2024 reads before calling this reading cycle finished (hey, there's still time!), Meditations was the absolute perfect title for the conclusion to my year and to inspire the start of a new one—both personally and intellectually. I tend to love New Years because I thrive in the framework of a fresh start, and appreciate the resonance of an ending. The ultimate NYE book, maybe?

I decided to split my reflections on Meditations into two posts—my notes on its content, and my more straightforward review now—so the second will come shortly.

The Translation and Organization

This translation of Meditations is done by Gregory Hays, an associate professor of classics at UVA. It comes off as very modern, which I did enjoy, while still seeming to preserve the integrity of Aurelius's ideas.

Meditations is divided into twelve books, each with bundles of ideas, paragraphs, phrases, and references that inform his views on Stoicism, goodness, and general living. As the (thorough) introduction points out, Meditations is more of a process than a product, in which Aurelius is constantly refining where he stands. That seems organic to the very point of the philosophy in the first place: that we are always changing and revising our position.

“The recognition that the entries are as much process as product also accounts for the shapelessness and apparent disorder of the work.”

For that reason, insights could occasionally feel repetitive or even contradictory. I've been revisiting and finishing a lot of Alain de Botton's works lately, and the feel is similar—like you're peeking into an unfinished knowledge notebook (which Adam Alter points out in a recent nonfiction read of mine to be a hugely beneficial practice for us. Before even encountering Alter's recommendation, I started a similar journal in December because I do so much better longhand, and I think it's made me a better writer.)

I read Meditations all in one sitting, but a friend of mine noted that he read it in chunks of 10-15 pages at a time. I could see myself rereading this in the future, or constantly revisiting fragments or sections that feel important to me. I've noted this in some recent reviews, but that means it also may be a good pick if you're trying to build a habit of reading at all—or aligning with a 2025 resolutions framework that might have you reaching a goal of pages per day.

The books themselves jump around between topics and structures, so you might read one "book" (easy enough to think of as a chapter) that's all short fragments and quotes from others or one that focuses more on one specific thread of thought. Like Words Like Silver itself, am I right? Before the twelve books start, an introduction talks about the history and politics of Marcus Aurelius, general philosophical attitudes at the time, analyzes the overview of the work itself, etc,.

The Voice & Tone

Oddly enough, some of the neat, succinct phrasing reminded me so, so much of books like I Wrote This for You by Iain S. Thomas, solidifying my opinion that sometimes the only reason people have judgments about literary genres or works is because of the name and aesthetic attached to them; certain lines and sentiments from the work are very similar, so it's a bit nonsensical that someone might praise Aurelius's product for being a classic but scoff at a contemporary author just by virtue of their time period and labeling. (But I digress—just a constant argument of mine! Sometimes, we are just snobs for no reason. And no literature exists in a vacuum, anyway.)

Meditations comes off as immensely soothing and gratifying and affirming to me, solidifying its place in my personal hall of fame. In reading other secondhand works, I wasn't sure if I could consider myself aligned to Stoicism because I can be emotionally turbulent when affected by hardships but I stay incredibly consistent in my pursuit, core beliefs, discipline, etc,. So am I immoveable or not? Those other works probably tend to overemphasize emotional distance as the path to Stoicism, whereas Meditations incorporates my beliefs about impact and autonomy in a more cohesive way. For that reason, Meditations gave me a lot more clarity in how to see myself and aligns more with my preferred framework of living.

I did have some critiques or pushbacks related to how we determine what is "rational" (my usual critique of the Stoics), Marcus Aurelius's derision towards perception and the senses, and some slightly hypocritical musings on how to focus ourselves and how to consider others. But a lot of that could be explained away by the document being a process rather than a finished product too. Overall, Meditations is such a winner.

I love overall that Meditations is steeped in obvious gratitude and a spirit of generosity and optimism. The beliefs inform the tone and vice versa, and it's overall written in a way I very much jive with.

My Own Relationship to Stoicism

This year, I've been obviously intrigued by Stoicism, how it's both active and accepting. The philosophy works for me more so than others in teaching me to relax—in a similar way to how flow states and soft-focus activities do more to give me peace than straight-up meditation.

Sometimes, I find that similar arguments for "just letting things go" don't give the proper weight to the ability of people, experiences, arts, hardships, etc,. to move us and thus don't afford them the deserved significance. Stoicism does a good job incorporating both needs. In the most Grace-like framework ever: what's the most productive way to feel?

I do consider myself an emotional person, but I am also a deeply controlled one—so I'm nearly always reading about methods people use to strike their ideal balance between feeling and suppression. (I did recently read How Emotions Are Made, Attached, etc,.) Detachment is one option, but that's not the same as Stoicism either. Again, Meditations defines Stoicism in a way so conducive to how I see it too, and will definitely be a Bible of sorts for me going forward.

Some of My Favorite Lines & Sentiments

I'll get into these when I write the second part of my review, an analysis of the literal content of Meditations, but I do want to share some summary and explanation for what you can expect to read and encounter within the book's 200-ish pages (and chunky introduction.)

Grace Note: I've been trying to write "short" lately and build my writing muscle for it, and have totally been failing. So you'll hopefully see more scraps and quick thoughts appear on the blog as I try to build it again! My way of saying sorry for the length of my chats lately.

I'm tempted to go through all my underlines and essentially reorganize all my notes into the ways I would organize the books/chapters, contributing to the vague sense that I'll forget to share some of my favorite ideas here. But you'll just have to read it yourself.

First, the book introduces Stoicism as a balance between dignity and grace. According to the introduction, Stoics did balk against free will in some ways (a recent fixation of mine that's made me fun at parties), but Aurelius reconciles this by loosely drawing out free will as a "voluntary accommodation to what is in any case inevitable." Stoicism still gives credence to self-sovereignty.

But Aurelius's version of philosophy is still focused on kindness, gratitude, goodwill, and service to others. This is where Meditations really wins me over. I think, in my analysis of Stoicism, that other writers have made it difficult to sound like you could be Stoic while still deeply caring about others—their greater good being more so a dispassionate affect of "goodness" being dignified behavior only—but Aurelius is secretly a sappy optimist (as am I.)

“We were made, Marcus tells us over and over, not for ourselves but for others, and our nature is fundamentally unselfish. In relationships with others, we must work for their collective good while treating them justly and fairly as individuals.”

Recently, I've been considering morality and the reasons for goodness through the lens of titles like Good Old Neon (story) and Franny and Zooey and even What Have We Done (which deals with the dissonance of moral injury within the military.) And those books worry that selflessness may actually be fraudulent, because how do you know you're doing anything for the right reasons? What happens when there is no right reason? And then in considering those questions, you end up being too zoomed-in on the self in a way that makes you suffer.

Aurelius neatly answers these while giving you the methods of zooming-out—frankly lovely and necessary to read after being jolted off-axis by these others.

Some quick summaries (paraphrased) from the books:

Book One focuses on gratitude, highlighting strengths and virtues Aurelius has noticed, absorbed, or appreciated from friends, family, thinkers, and others he admires, and that immediately put me into such a happy headspace. He does an incredible job being specific, and I wanted to embody each one of the traits he highlights. It also maps out a loose framework of what Stoicism really "is" in terms of personality. The tone reminded me a lot of Love Poems from God translated by Daniel Ladinsky, another favorite.

Book Two writes about how everyone is part of the same body and system, and obstructing each other is unnatural. Basically, if hardship befalls you, it was either random (or by fate) or it contributes to the greater cohesion of the universe. Nature is nature in all things, so nothing is "unnatural," and as a part of a greater whole, it's not for us to protest that.

And he lays this out in a neat, persuasive way that moved me more so than other Stoic narratives. He discusses our fear of time (a sentiment echoed in Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkemann) and comes off as deeply empathetic.

He also writes that the soul degrades itself when overcome by pleasure or pain, when it's dishonest or inauthentic, and when it is not performing every action in pursuit of its greater purpose.

Book Three talks about transience, and nature, and how we cultivate our understanding of the world because our understanding changes and disappears just as easily as everything else.

“Anyone with a feeling for nature—a deeper sensitivity—will find it all gives pleasure.”

Book Four is surprisingly optimistic about hurts and wrongdoings, emphasizing a belief I've also always held that nobody does wrong deliberately and everyone is just doing their best, even if their operating system clashes with yours. For that reason, because everyone is part of the same thing, everything is for the best. He notes that something ruins your "life" only if it ruins your character. You have to actively strive for goodness and kindness in every moment. And beauty is beauty regardless of whether or not you notice. Praise doesn't matter (a thought discussed too in Status Anxiety, my current read.)

“Love the discipline you know then let it support you.”

“It was for the best. So Nature had no choice but to do it.”

Best of all, he says you should reframe misfortune as actually being the good fortune to endure it. I love, love, love the way he approaches hurt and conflict and the strength of absorbing bad things not as being a sense of coldness but rather the certainty that you are still going to act in a spirit of justice, generosity, self-control, etc,. afterwards. Prevailing is the good fortune rather than the reason for prevailing being bad. (I worded that poorly, but you know what I mean.)

“—It's unfortunate that this happened. —No. It's fortunate that this happened and I've remained unharmed by it—not shattered by the present or frightened of the future. It could have happened to anyone. But not everyone could have remained unharmed by it.”

Book Five praises discipline and commitment, and limits hedonism and laziness. It begs you not to do good transactionally. Instead, either it helps you or contributes to the world's cohesion, making all good deeds a net-positive (and resolving the dissonance introduced in the titles I mentioned above.) It also is very human in acknowledging tiredness and exhaustion, especially in regards to the service of others, noting that "even the best around you [can be] hard to put up with." Still, that doesn't detract from the value of trying.

Aurelius says you are your attention, and also talks about the value and humility of changing your mind, assessments, beliefs, etc,. which I've been thinking about SO MUCH lately. We lose a lot by not allowing others (or ourselves) to change their minds or by implying they are somehow not as authentic, dignified, or in control of themselves when they do so. Control means allowing change.

Overall Thoughts

Aaaand with that, I can feel myself getting into it and more complex, so I'll save the full summary for my notes on the book in part two. But I'll leave you with a few ideas or quotes from the book I loved:

• "If it's not right [to you], don't do it. If it's not true, don't say it."
• "None of us is forbidden to pursue our own good."
• "Enjoyment means doing as much of what your nature requires as you can."
• How much more damage anger and grief do than the things that caused them.
• Don't judge others or hold their mistakes against them. You've made enough mistakes yourself—even the ones you've avoided. Any wrongdoings by them are fundamentally unintentional.
• If someone's cutting themselves off, go after them.
• "Have I done something for the greater good? Then I share in its benefits [by being one part of a whole.]"
• "Rationality is self-perception, self-examination, and the power to make of itself what it wants."
• "People exist for each other."
• "Nature does not make us endure the unendurable."
• "To change your mind and to accept correction are free acts too. The action is yours, based on your own will, your own decision—and your own mind."
• We can only apply the judgments of good or bad to our own actions, because the universe is acting in its best interest, others are acting in accordance with their belief systems, etc,.
• "The only rewards of our existence here are unstained character and unselfish acts."
• Pleasure is not inherently good and pain is not inherently bad.
• "The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts."
• There is nothing Nature loves more than to change.
• You can't judge others' actions because you don't know what ends their means will lead to.

etc,. etc,.

Marcus Aurelius would have loved the science of awe, too—how it gets me to the core of this same belief: making you feel both big and small at the same time. And he would have loved how scientists and researchers are proving that there is genuinely nothing better for us than to be open and kind, how are brains are secretly wired for optimism, and how those things create a snowball effect in others and the world that ultimately makes everything feel right even when it's technically wrong. (Sappy of me to say, but he was a sappy optimist too—and that's exactly why I love him. I absolutely have to read all of his other writings. Everything I can. More soon!)

All in all, Meditations covers and ties together many of my favorite ideas, was much more readable (and relevant) than I expected, and had lots to underline.

Hear me out. For fans of:

I Wrote This for You by Iain S. Thomas; Love Poems from God translated by Daniel Ladinksy; The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge; Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton; Humankind by Rutger Bregman; Grit by Angela Duckworth; etc,.

For excerpt/educational purposes. Content is not mine, and belongs to Modern Library.